Scientists have moved a big step closer to bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction, and have even released a date they expect to see them return.
You might ask why it is important to bring back the gigantic creatures that last roamed the earth thousands of years ago, but the folks at Colossal are dead set on seeing them again.
After all - if nothing else - it would be cool, wouldn’t it?
Why the woolly mammoth could be set for a comeback
Woolly mammoths went extinct around 4,000 years ago, but now scientists hope that the massive mammals could make a comeback as early as 2028.
One interesting thing to note is that nobody actually knows why mammoths went extinct, although popular theories involve climate change - yes, it was a thing then too - and overhunting by humans.
Of course, a combination of things could be the case, too.
Several very well-preserved mammoths have been found dating back thousands of years, but there's still a lot to learn.
Until recently, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that mammoths only existed in fantasy shows, but that could be about to change.
What we can be sure of is that billionaire Ben Lamm, the CEO and founder of Colossal Biosciences, is serious about his dream to bring the mammoth back.
He said he’s ‘positive’ that he first calves will be born within the next few years, and even hopes that his company can ‘de-extinct’ more species too.
His company has announced that it has raised $200 million after a new round of funding for the next three years, and has raised a total of $431 million since 2021.
That’s a lot of money for mammoths - let’s hope that they can deliver on their goals.
In a statement about the funding, Lamm said: “Our recent successes in creating the technologies necessary for our end-to-end de-extinction toolkit have been met with enthusiasm by the investor community,
“This funding will grow our team, support new technology development, expand our de-extinction species list while continuing to allow us to carry forth our mission to make extinction a thing of the past.”
This Colossal plan to bring back big creatures is big business
Colossal is now valued at $10.2 billion, and has already completed the tough task of sequencing the mammoth genome, as well as finding out how to produce elephant stem cells that are capable of giving rise to numerous different cell types.
That’s a big deal when you consider the task at hand.
So, important steps have been made, but there is still a way to go.
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They still need to be able to edit genes to add the mammoth genes to elephant DNA, the company admits.
But, that’s just the next step.
Speaking to Daily Mail, Lamm outlined the long-term goals of his company: “We've set one timeline which is late 2028 for the first mammoth calves and we are currently on track for that.”
We’ll have to wait and see how they get on, but it might not be long before we see mammoths lumbering across the tundra, just like our distant ancestors did.